Men pretending to be a woman and sockpuppetting . WHY ?

Why don't you move to the coast, brah?  It must suck living that far inland.

And the phrase is, Mind if I do a J?

Good news everyone!  I've found my pencil!

I assume it's still warm Abe!

Ok... so Joemooshbrah has clearly set up an account to mimic you John.  That is kinda flattering in a way.  Not very imaginative tho...

Lucky it didn't burst your ring! 

Did you find there was a difference to how you were treated on here by other posters in your male persona compared to your female one? [edit] yeah, sorry... this is meant for John.

lol. I guess you're talking to johnmusacha. 

The same.  I never used a "sexy" profile picture.  Either you crab one off the internet and with google image search you'll get busted, or you use one of your personal pics (ex gfs, ex wife, female friends) and that's highly disrespectful.  

I am sure, however, many guys are using their own personal stash of "sexy female pictures" (i.e. photos they themselves have taken of real women they know) and then use the resulting negative results on google search to buttress their claim to authenticity.

Sure thing. It's so easy to get a photo on your mobile when you're out somewhere. Most people wouldn't even know you had taken their picture. 

Why do men want to pretend to be female though?  Just for a lark or is there a more sinister reason?

That's true, but you can mostly tell if it's just a pic of a random who isn't looking at the camera and is clearly just a bystander.  Most likely it would be a friend you'd snap. 

Just a lark.  Gotta change things up a bit.  Don't typecast yourself.  Like Social Panda said, do it for the lulz, brah.

Do you think there are many men that pretend to be women on here...?  I don't think there are.  I think it's just something men are terrified of, so it gets exagerated in their heads.  I think there's a real fear that a man can be talking to another man instead of a woman.  Would you agree?

Anyways, why the ruddy hell isn't Pelly on here doing this in depth, investigation into the human psyche?

Could be. I never had a doubt about serious female members. I just ignore the troll accounts, except for having some fun sometimes. And, if despite of that, I find myself talking to a man who pretends to be a woman, well... I'm not here for dating, anyway.

I could be wrong, but I don't think the fake females last very long on this site. There are enough real females here that spot them quite quickly. 

So really, to summarise... we don't appear to have THAT much of a sockpuppet problem, do we?  Not for the sensible members anyway.  It just sounds to me that the weird ones find the weird ones on here and as long as they don't bother the rest of us who have a modicum of sense too much ... all is generally hunky dory in the world of chess.com.

By the way, I'm really a 17 stone lorry driver who goes by the name of Harold and I loike big boobies.  Giz a kiss luv.

Now I'm interested.

Yo, in all seriousness, brah, I wouldn't say there is too much of a "sockpuppet" problem on here, i.e. legitimate members operating secondary accounts for lulz... BUT

I do think there is a numerous contingent of pissed-off banned users that stalk the forums with new/throwaway accounts.  I was one of them.  I was just one of many.  The problem seems to be lessening, however, as the site is run more fairly now that it used to be.

Yeah, in all seriousness sis, I'd also agree with you about 'the sockpuppet probs' on here JohnMusacha. 

I also get the feeling you could be playing me on this thread.  We shall see.  If not, I thank you for your candidness and time.  If you have been playing a game, then I'm sure we shall catch each other again in the crosshairs of another seriously world-changing thread and I hope it did it for you.